Thursday Watch

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are unch.  to +.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 66.75 -1.25 basis points. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 13.25 -.25 basis point.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 73.87 .

• S&P 500 futures +.06%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.12%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• None of note

Economic Releases

8:30 am EST

• The Advance Goods Trade Balance for November is estimated at -$67.9B versus -$68.1B in October.
• Wholesale Inventories MoM for November is estimated to rise +.3% versus a -.5% decline in October.
• Initial Jobless Claims for last week are estimated to fall to 240K versus 245K the prior week.
• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 1900K versus 1932K prior.

9:45 am EST

• Chicago Purchasing Manager for December is estimated to fall to 62.0 versus 63.9 in November.
  

11:00 am EST

• Bloomberg consensus estimates call for a weekly crude oil inventory decline of -3,844,200 barrels versus a -6,495,000 barrel decline the prior week. Gasoline supplies are estimated to rise by +1,290,300 barrels versus a +1,237,000 barrel gain the prior week. Distillate inventories are estimated to rise by +85,600 barrels versus a +769,000 barrel gain the prior week. Finally, Refinery Utilization is estimated to fall by -.15% versus a +.7% gain prior.
  

Upcoming Splits

• (NEOG) 4-for-3

Other Potential Market Movers

• The China Account Balance, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report and the $26B 5Y T-Note auction could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asian indices are higher, boosted by technology and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to rally into the afternoon, finishing modestly higher.  The Portfolio is 100% net long heading into the day.